The statistics are stunning. In 2023, AARP “estimated [the] economic value of family caregivers’ unpaid contributions was approximately $600 billion, based on about 38 million caregivers providing an average of 18 hours of care per week.” Just two years later, a study conducted by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and sponsored by Otsuka America Pharmaceutical suggested that “there are 44.58 million caregivers in the U.S. performing the equivalent of an estimated $873.5 billion worth of labor each year.” The study’s findings go on to indicate that “nearly half of U.S. states (48%) are on the brink of an unpaid family caregiving emergency.”
Family caregivers serve many roles: chef, financial planner, chauffeur, housekeeper, personal stylist and bather, physical and emotional supporter, care coordinator and more. Increasingly, their responsibilities extend to medical and nursing tasks for which little training, education, and support are provided. For many employees, their caregiving responsibilities are the equivalent of an additional part-time job or even a full-time job.
Employee Benefit News’ latest research, conducted in partnership with Homethrive, shows that 50% of employee caregivers expect their responsibilities to intensify in the next few years and “the strain is already showing up at work.”
NEBGH has robust resources on caregiving, including a microsite created in partnership with AARP Family Caregiving, featuring a guide, fact sheets, checklist, tips and videos for employers, managers, and affected employees. These resources are available at no cost. The employer-led nonprofit coalition has curated a list of actions organizations can take that will support employee well-being which, in turn, can help sustain performance and productivity, as well as contribute to retention and company loyalty — all without adding to a company's operating budget.
Providing support to employee caregivers is becoming table stakes for organizations. Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH), a nonprofit, employer-led coalition focused on the delivery of high-quality health and wellness care, has designed a free microsite full of resources to give benefit leaders a leg up.
"Millions of employees are caregivers. Many of them are sandwich caregivers taking care of kids and aging parents," says Kim Thiboldeaux, NEBGH's CEO. "Hundreds of billions of dollars are unaccounted for in the economy around the time that caregivers spend in that role. It's showing up in the workplace, and employers are trying to think more systematically about how they deal with it."
In September, the Northeast Business Group on health, a New York-based nonprofit employers group, issued a guide for employers about strategies for strengthening a “vaccination-friendly culture.” Created with funding from Pfizer and Merck, the guide appears as employer vaccination benefits that once had strong, bipartisan support are now affected by fierce, partisan battles in Washington over vaccination policy.
What You Need To Know
The Northeast Business Group on Health is continuing to promote employer support for vaccination programs.
The New York-based, nonprofit employer group has published a new guide for employers on strategies for strengthening an employer's "vaccination-friendly culture."
The NEBGH group board includes representatives from a wide range of large employers, including Aetna, UnitedHealth and Pfizer. Pfizer is a major vaccine maker.
NBGH created the new employer guide with funding from Pfizer and Merck.
NBGH published an employer guide to strategies for creating a vaccine-friendly culture in 2022.
The group's member organizations provide health benefits for about 9 million people in the United States.
Mark Cunningham-Hill, the medical director at the Northeast Business Group on Health, said employers within the coalition of benefits leaders and healthcare stakeholders are generally including GLP-1s for weight loss in their formularies, while also offering “wrap-around” support services to address behavioral change, manage side effects and improve patient outcomes.
“Employers are also monitoring potential expanded indications for GLP-1s in areas such as liver, kidney and cardiovascular disease,” he said.
As we head into cold and flu season, “Strengthening a Vaccination-Friendly Culture: An Employer Roadmap for 2025,” developed by the Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH), offers clear, actionable strategies to help organizations create supportive policies and practices that encourage vaccination, protect workforce health, and strengthen trust across the workplace.
Employers can’t afford to be passive. They must actively identify the pressing health challenges their workforce faces—from mental health struggles and poor air quality due to wildfires, to new treatments such as GLP-1 weight-loss medications. With thoughtful, engaging strategies, they can ensure credible, science-based information reaches their workforce.
It may feel like a daunting task in today’s polarized climate, but many employers—and unions—are already rising to the challenge. Kim Thibodeaux, head of the Northeast Business Group on Health, which represents the health interests of nearly 80 of the nation’s largest employers, is prioritizing investing in scalable ways to provide trusted health information content to employer partners. We are partnering with Kim and her team to provide timely, accurate, digestible health information on a range of topics in an omnichannel format.
Cylinder joins Maven Clinic, Northeast Business Group on Health, and others to highlight data-driven approaches to manage healthcare costs.
CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cylinder, the employee benefit provider for digestive health, today joined the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchasers Coalition Annual Forum, underscoring the growing importance of digestive health alongside other critical healthcare issues. Chris Nordman, Cylinder SVP, Commercial, will join an expert panel to discuss how data analytics and specialized health benefit partnerships are improving employee health outcomes and reducing employer healthcare costs.
The annual forum highlights key issues in employer-sponsored healthcare priorities and features a 90-minute session with leaders from UnitedHealthcare, Maven Clinic, and Northeast Business Group on Health, among others. Experts from these groups will address five critical health areas: cancer, GLP-1s, digestive health, musculoskeletal disorders, and maternity care.